Kinross - Prince Edward Island 1970s

[James Hilton]

 

Alongside the plans for a large (well, large for me) H0 gauge switching layout in my workshop, I've been drawn down a fascinating rabbit hole into railway operations on Prince Edward Island in Canada...

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PEIRailway/permalink/1224538220953152/

 

This photo on the PEI Facebook group was the final straw, when a casual diversion turned into the resolve to build something, that feeling that many of us know, it eats away at you until it can be satisfied in miniature, brought to life through your eye like a painter bringing a beautiful landscape to life on canvas, the art of creating a well captured cameo is a wonderful process - detailed enough to draw you in yet casual enough to be finished within 12 months, the perfect distraction for the longer term Halifax and South Western project.

 

The first step was the re-jigging of my workshop - I've shared some of these ideas before, but recently have stalled a little with the realisation that the proposed height of the HSW layout was too high. However, I noticed IKEA did a 3x4 bookshelf, that could be used to replace my existing setup (which can be re-used elsewhere at home) which would allow it to be lowered. However, that would mean a re-location of the Post-y-dulais micro, which has been so successful due to it's easy accessibility based above my workbench and always ready for action. However, I turned around to look out the window and realised that there might be enough room to add a couple of shelves in place of my large mirror, in fact probably 3 or 4 IKEA Lack shelves would fit nicely. These would easily hold Pont-y-dulais and some other materials... hey, there might even be space for the PEI micro...

The Bachmann GE 70t I bought was dug back out and left on my desk as inspiration whilst I delved into PEI history. I've been drawn in particular to the Murray Harbour and Montague subdivisions, specifically in the mid 1970s, these lines saw largely seasonal traffic for the potato harvest, yet maintained an 'as required' service all year round seeing short trains hauled by a pair of 70t due to the light weight rail and relatively poor condition of the trackbed. These lines clung on, despite increasing competition from road transport, local management even invested in ballasting and improvements to allow larger engines to use the lines when the GE 70t were finally retired in the early 1980s - alas to no avail, as CN pulled out of PEI in 1989, about the same time they did the same on the 3'6" gauge Newfoundland lines - as one feels suited the crown corportation as it was preparing for privatisation. A lot more of the history of these fascinating lines can be found on Facebook and the various historical Wikis setup by dedicated rail historians.

So that photo, by Steve Hunter, was inspiration enough, and with help from Chris Mears I focused down on Uigg, and Kinross and the Martin Visser warehouse spur... I felt this scene had real potential, and if I can get the feel of the back scene and colouring right, it will hopefully really 'pop' - as well as providing a distraction it will help me get my eye back into H0 scale scenery, techniques and begin to think about the need (or not) for colouring adjustment in my finishes.

So several sheets of A4 were taped together, to represent approximately 1m x 25cm scenic area, and my solitary Peco Code 83 point (a number 6 right hand, perfect) were pressed into action. My hope was that it could be operated with a Ge 70t and pair of 40ft cars WITHOUT needing the 'cassettes', but longer trains could be handled with those fitted - so allowing adhoc operation as well as more dedicated, say 15 minute sessions - the cassettes will literally be placed on fold down 'tables' at each end of the micro, the holes in the sky may need filling in with plugs, that is hard to know until it's started.

The Busch 'Chevy' pick up from the teenage Canadian layout pulled over on the shoulder to see the Ge70t switching the spur - the angles are wrong here, but I feel like it's got the potential to work, and I can use some of the tricks I've learnt in OO to hide the exits and block viewing angles - I plan on a little ground undulation, which should be easily achieved with a flat baseboard and separate track bed, and the backscene needs to feel like a summers day I think, so bright sky - and some research to determine if a photo back scene can work, or a sky (like Pont-y-dulais) or an artist impression painting. Progress though and enough to focus on for the better... I hope you've enjoyed this trip down the rabbit hole so far, we'll climb out for now, but there will undoubtedly be more soon...

 

 

 

 

 

[mdvle]

31 minutes ago, James Hilton said:

yet maintained an 'as required' service all year round seeing short trains hauled by a pair of 70t due to the light weight rail and relatively poor condition of the trackbed. These lines clung on, despite increasing competition from road transport, local management even invested in ballasting and improvements to allow larger engines to use the lines when the GE 70t were finally retired in the early 1980s - alas to no avail, as CN pulled out of PEI in 1989, about the same time they did the same on the 3'6" gauge Newfoundland lines - as one feels suited the crown corportation as it was preparing for privatisation. A lot more of the history of these fascinating lines can be found on Facebook and the various historical Wikis setup by dedicated rail historians.

 

The closure of the rail networks in PEI and on the island of Newfoundland had nothing to do with privatization - that process didn't start at CN until 1992 when new management was put into place at CN.

 

What had happened was the Canadian government belatedly acknowledging reality (and being more willing to dismiss local customer pleas) and being more receptive to both CN and CP abandoning money losing lines (as line abandonment required government approval, even for the entirely private CP) - this being helped along by the then North American wide policy of deregulating much of the various transportation options (both rail and flying).

 

Thus the sudden number of line closures starting in the late 80s, and accelerating in the 90s, as not only did PEI and the island of Newfoundland lose their rail lines but the branchline networks in southern Ontario and the prairies quickly disappeared.

[James Hilton]

It's a sad story, thanks for adding a little more of an experienced reflection on what happened.

[James Hilton]

I’ve spent the last few days, especially the weekend, adding the end handrails and grab rails to the yellow peril...

These were formed from 0.3 mm brass wire for the grab handles, and 0.45 mm for the handrails which were soldered together for strength. This was a fiddly job that I took slowly and really enjoyed.

You can also see I have added the footboards and various hoses to each end, I still need to add the drop steps and safety chains. I can’t wait to get some primer on it and see what the finish is like, but ideally I need to have sorted the bell by then as well.

The main problem with modelling North American prototypes in the UK is sourcing parts, often smaller details like the bell. This as I’ve said before adds something for me, it slows the modelling down to a more mindful pace compared to working on others projects and commissions as well as giving me the chance to repurpose other items or design my own. I’m also aware I need 4 corner marker lights and a pair of long re-railers... This however can wait, and ahead of the Christmas layout project it’s nice to see this model coming together. Until next time, more soon...

[James Hilton]

On the Prince Edward Island Railway’s Murray Harbour subdivision (what us Brits would call a branch line) business was seriously in decline by the 1970s, buoyed but the annual potato harvest. This rural back water of the mighty Canadian National with its light track and diminutive GE 70t is the subject of this seasons layout project...

In a previous post I’ve shared the early work on planning as well as the stock, but now the holidays have started wood has been cut and the basic box has been constructed. Due to lock down this has been cobbled together from what was in the cupboard, so we’ve a 9mm MDF base, 6mm ends and 3mm hardboard for the front wings and backscene. The lid was to be hardboard too, but I mis-measured so it will have to wait until non-essential shops are open again.

The track bed will be cut and glued from 6mm MDF, I’ve also dug out and found the LED lighting, and tested this by using the lid of Pont-y-Dulais, proving the concept. I may use a strip of aluminium angle along the front of the lid to stop it sagging and add a heat sink for the LEDs. That’s all for now, I might try and get some paint on the GE70t next, more soon...

[James Hilton]

I picked up the Peco Code 83 track a few weeks ago in advance of this project, as well as a Xuron track cutter as I’ve previously only ever used a cutting disc...

This tool is one I should have bought years ago, clean and crisp cuts with absolute ease, a real pleasure to use... anyhow, I’d given the layout a coat of dark grey paint to give a sealing first coat to the MDF, track laying took all of an hour, mostly spent tweaking the alignment to get a nice flowing curve, not that many will ever notice as it’s only when you peer through the end hole that you can appreciate it.

The turnout will need slivers of styrene adding to stop the gaps in the rails to the frog closing up and I need to add some wiring next. The turnout will be manually operated, I don’t think I’ll bother with using the frog wiring, relying on the blades for contact, but will bury the wire in the scenery should this prove to be a shortcut too far! The sidings will be isolated with toggle switches, I think, to allow two locos to be on the layout should ever a moment arise. A train has run thought! I connected up crocodile clips to the right hand end and the GE70t made a test run to the turnout and back. Once these wiring additions are added tomorrow I will then be able to start on the level crossing and ground work. It’s a shame there isn’t enough wood here for the lid, as it would be nice to wire up and test the lighting before too long as well. Ho hum, blooming C-19 lockdown here in North Wales means that will have to wait until mid to end of January at the earliest. 

Until next time,  more soon...

 

[James Hilton]

To bring things up to date, as there has been quite a lot of progress over the past few weeks...

 

A full account of everything is on my blog under the Kinross label here:

https://paxton-road.blogspot.com/search/label/kinross

 

I’ve had a great time the past two days working on the scenery of the Prince Edward Island cameo, Kinross... a mix of my favourite past times, reading, research and model making...

Yesterday I applied a mixture of autumn 4.5 and winter 6.5mm Mini-natur fibres over Grass Masters flock cement and a little Woodland Scenics coarse turf in burnt grass using the Grass Masters Flock-it static applicator. This was intended to give a good base for further scenic work. The danger with static grass is you leave it in this state, it’s such a step forward from ground foam that you’re too scared to add further texture. I was certainly in this camp until I bought, read, and absorbed Gordon Gravett’s book on grassland modelling...

It’s a fantastically well written and inspiring, if pricey, book that should be on every modellers ‘book list’ if even to just borrow from the library. He describes giving static grass a hair cut as well as layering, giving ideas and materials for adding more texture. I began with using 4.5mm Mini-natur fibres in a puffer bottle applied to Peco layering spray applied through paper masks to give more control over where I wanted it. This allowed a denser green to be build up in places. Given a quick vacuum to thin things out amd remove the ‘flats fibres, over this I used a smaller mask and applied further 6.5 winter fibres in the bottle. I don’t find a static applicator necessary for this finer work.

The final stage was to begin to add some low lying shrubbery and undergrowth. Gordon opened my eyes to both Greenscenes scatter, as well as using postiche (fake hair) to create these thinly layered bushes. I use the Peco spray, add some teased out amd snipped up postiche, more glue spray, add some scatter, repeat... the result is a finely textured, see through bush, which exudes character.

 

This has now been put to one side, so I can reflect on the appearance, study more photos of Prince Edward Island and begin to think about some larger shrubs and small trees for the scene. I’m happy with the cpfinish so far, probably some of my best ground work to date. The shrubs in particular look great in the flesh and the balance of colour works, even if it’s not strictly accurate. I can’t think of a quieter more mindful way to spend a few hours this weekend. I hope you all have had a chance to take some time out for yourselves, on whatever projects your working on. In the meantime, more soon...

 

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

9 hours ago, James Hilton said:

To bring things up to date, as there has been quite a lot of progress over the past few weeks...

 

A full account of everything is on my blog under the Kinross label here:

https://paxton-road.blogspot.com/search/label/kinross

 

I’ve had a great time the past two days working on the scenery of the Prince Edward Island cameo, Kinross... a mix of my favourite past times, reading, research and model making...

Yesterday I applied a mixture of autumn 4.5 and winter 6.5mm Mini-natur fibres over Grass Masters flock cement and a little Woodland Scenics coarse turf in burnt grass using the Grass Masters Flock-it static applicator. This was intended to give a good base for further scenic work. The danger with static grass is you leave it in this state, it’s such a step forward from ground foam that you’re too scared to add further texture. I was certainly in this camp until I bought, read, and absorbed Gordon Gravett’s book on grassland modelling...

It’s a fantastically well written and inspiring, if pricey, book that should be on every modellers ‘book list’ if even to just borrow from the library. He describes giving static grass a hair cut as well as layering, giving ideas and materials for adding more texture. I began with using 4.5mm Mini-natur fibres in a puffer bottle applied to Peco layering spray applied through paper masks to give more control over where I wanted it. This allowed a denser green to be build up in places. Given a quick vacuum to thin things out amd remove the ‘flats fibres, over this I used a smaller mask and applied further 6.5 winter fibres in the bottle. I don’t find a static applicator necessary for this finer work.

The final stage was to begin to add some low lying shrubbery and undergrowth. Gordon opened my eyes to both Greenscenes scatter, as well as using postiche (fake hair) to create these thinly layered bushes. I use the Peco spray, add some teased out amd snipped up postiche, more glue spray, add some scatter, repeat... the result is a finely textured, see through bush, which exudes character.

 

This has now been put to one side, so I can reflect on the appearance, study more photos of Prince Edward Island and begin to think about some larger shrubs and small trees for the scene. I’m happy with the cpfinish so far, probably some of my best ground work to date. The shrubs in particular look great in the flesh and the balance of colour works, even if it’s not strictly accurate. I can’t think of a quieter more mindful way to spend a few hours this weekend. I hope you all have had a chance to take some time out for yourselves, on whatever projects your working on. In the meantime, more soon...

 

 

Superb.

[long island jack]

been recently looking at this one turnout layout idea to build in a small shadow box, been trying to convince myself, do i need another layout!!

 

Will follow with interest.

Ray

 

P.S like the 70 tonner, i've one with cracked gears!!!

Edited January 18, 2021 by long island jack

[James Hilton]

 

I'm posting a few blog updates to bring the story up to date...

 

For many years I’ve recycled trees my Dad made when I was a child, creating a thread through time connecting my creative output of the present with that of his past...

Christmas 2019 I began making my own trees following Gordon Gravett’s techniques in his wonderful scenery books published by Wild Swan (I’ve recently purchased the third of the set, the coniferous trees one, having the deciduous trees and grassland books already). His photographs, explanations and written style are a real joy to read, absorb, reflect and put into practice. A natural progression in confidence has led to me finally feeling able to let go of my Dad’s trees, letting that thread continue through my own skills rather than connecting more physically to the past. 

 

This trio I’m particularly pleased with, I’ve been working from photos of Kinross and Uigg on Price Edward Island as well as using Google Streetview and Earth to check the shapes and types against the prototype as it is today. Starting each twig at a time, building up a tree to its trunk and then planting it feels a natural development process... the looking at the tree from different angles as you see it grow before you, a sculpture inspired by nature but created by your own minds eye. It’s a wonderful pastime and I’m looking forward to adding some greenery to this trio next, happy to feel like I’ve acquired another skill, and one I can in time weave into my own models... until next time, more soon...

 

[James Hilton]

Earlier in the week I managed to find some energy and time to work on the trees for Kinross. This morning I added some foliage...

This is a mix of Greenscenes scatter over Woodland Scenics foliage. The foliage is cut into shapes and teased out to be thin and more 3D, and glued on the branches with tony drops of PVA. Over this structure scatter is added ans secured using Peco-scene layering spray. The Poplar is quite successful, the larger tree less so... I added some postiche and further scatter to add more bulk, but some kind of airy nature and Inthink it’s passable, and looks great in place and neatly hides the place the Visser warehouse touches the backscene. The smaller tree has been placed in the right foreground, to soften the edge of the scene. A lot of scrubby coniferous trees will be needed at this end.

Here you can see the trees prior to installation. They’re not fixed on the layout, but I’ve drilled mounting holes, they will be bedded in when the scenery is complete around them. I will perhaps build a few more trees this evening and tomorrow for the right hand side... the next project will then be the warehouse.

Despite it being early days I’m feeling that this is good progress and I’m happy with how it’s beginning to look and the emotions it stirs. You may think that as a seasoned modeller this is all my bread and butter, but I’ve really pushed myself here to try new techniques and trees are one of those things I’ve always put off, so I hope that encourages you with your own modelling. Until next time, more soon...

[James Hilton]

I find the weekends are offering me the chance to unwind on a very personal modelling project, one that is compact, achievable, motivating and a great chance to hone my scenery techniques further...

I find I never stop learning, and one thing as I’ve said recently on this project before, has been trees... in the past I’ve been put off this aspect of scenic modelling as it can be perceived as easier to buy them (or in my case reuse old ones). However the variety and style required for this layout, combined with the limited number required, meant I felt it was a worthwhile and mindful use of my time to read, research practice and attempt to master this skill. That last point is still some way away, but it has been a great learning journey so far and wonderful to see the scene on the layout develop exactly as I had envisaged...

Last time I talked about the deciduous trees on the layout, well excluding the Poplar, but they were made the same way with a wire armature. This time I’ve tried another of Gordon Gravett’s techniques for some generic coniferous trees to hide the exit in the right hand of the cameo. A barbecue skewer is coloured in with a black Sharpie, and then I tore up some rubberised horsehair in to thin clumps. This was threaded on and glued in place on the skewer. Once dry the next stage is to cut it neater, give it a haircut, tidy up the loops and curls so it looks more natural. Once reasonably happy with the shape (it can be adjusted later) I sprayed it with layering glue from Peco, and sprinkled on some dark green ground foam from Greenscenes. This didn’t look green, or dense enough, and so Gordon suggested using some static grass to puff into the dense matting to give a more needled effect. 

More layering glue was applied and a puffer bottle with 4.5mm summer mini-natur fibres, a medium rich green, were puffed on. I want to recreate more of a summers day, as such all the colours I’m using are lighter and warmer than perhaps you’d expect.

The results speak for themselves, ground foam only (left) compared with foam and fibres (right). This simple technique didn’t take longer to practice or achieve good results. Yes they need tidying up, and they’re not fine enough to stand muster alone, but as a cluster they work well and soften the exit (see top) so the fiddle yard will be disguised from normal viewing. 

 

What is more, working on these smaller projects, taking time to read and practice, quietly, in my own time, is something I’d recommend to us all in the current world Covid pandemic. My mental health has been battered these past few months, virtual friendships and model making are a great tonic when all we can do in the real world is shuffle past each other anonymously masked in the supermarket for our weekly essential shop. Stay healthy, more soon...

[James Hilton]

I've been working on my small slice of Prince Edward Island on and off again this weekend, a real tonic to my current health, and pace of life, the focus was again on the scenic aspect, especially focused on the right hand, Uigg side of the layout...

Kinross pictured earlier in the week, with the coniferous trees planted. I have stared at, absorbed and enjoyed this scene and used that to inform what happened this weekend.

 

In the past I rushed my way through this scenic stage, to an extent going through the motions, applying my usual techniques, tried and tested, producing a consistent and quality finish, yet one that lacked depth, finesse, texture... Kinross is so compact, I decided at the outset that the scenic aspect was the one I was going to push hard on - as I've mentioned in previous posts, talking about learning the art of tree construction. However, the texture of the ground cover could also be enhanced beyond just ground foam and static grass and using Gordon Gravett's methods, dosed up with inspiration from a good thumb through Bill Linley and Bram Bailey's Morning Sun books on the region with lots of PEI inspiration, I set to work...

 

I noted that although the fence line along the right of way wasn't always visible, the growth between this boundary and the track was often greener and more verdant than the surrounding fields, and I also noted that the mixture of brush, trees and undergrowth produced a real layered effect to the greenery which was going to need consideration to recreate in miniature - and certainly not something that could be reproduced with just one or two mediums.

Kinross this evening, seen in the context of it's place as a true shelf layout, with Pont-y-dulais underneath.

 

This weekend I feel I've gone far enough, at least for now... the static grass has been enhanced with foliage matt, and then more long straw grass over the top... the coniferous trees at Uigg end have been surrounded by a mix of Woodland Scenics foliage and clumps, this time with some Green-scenes flock around the transition from grass to shrub... and I've added more overgrowth on top of the banking either side of the right of way, stopping short of adding fencing (as I feel this will visually shorten the scene) I think there is now a stronger lineation between railway property and surrounding fields. 

A close up of this weekends effort, compare to the top photo, the greenery has been deepened and enhanced with different textures and materials, yet a consistent palette of colour threads through the whole scene, slightly restrained, nothing too bright, and nothing too dark.

 

That moves the Visser warehouse and surroundings firmly into sight now - and I have been planning how to tackle the distinctive warehouse structure, incorporating a little more variation in ground shape and cover as the building develops. This will be modelled almost in it's entire front section - as I think the visual impact of this will balance the trees better at the right hand side, and work well within the overall scene - a cut down, compressed or half modelled frontage, with it's peak off centre, may just have been a visual crop to far - however we're still very much in mock up phase, so as I progress this I will keep checking in place to confirm it's size, position and then even it's colour so it does not dominate the scene too much.

A scene you don't usually view from to show how effective the trees are at hiding the scenic exit, as well as showing a little more of the track side greenery, which is a deeper brighter green, with some lovely thin bushes alongside the slight embankment.

 

I hope this brief post goes to show that good scenery is not something that is created quickly - but that requires a vision (preferably influenced by emotion), patience and a variety of skills, techniques and materials, whilst maintaining some consistency in colour. This is another topic I'd like to consider in more detail, it feels like a more formal written form may be on the cards, in some way or another. In the meantime, more soon...

 

[James Hilton]

The left hand end of my Prince Edwards Island cameo layout, Kinross depicts the view that inspired the layout, the spur at Visser...

Unlike the greenery on the right hand, where it's possible to use scenic tricks to more easily suggest depth, there is not really anywhere to hide when you're depicting a real structure (that still stands today) and so a mock up has sat here throughout construction to help with judging the space and the visuals. However, with the greenery settling in nicely, this weekend attention has turned to the warehouse. An order from Eileen's Emporium with some expensive, but well moulded Evergreen board and batten sheet with 2.5mm spacing arrived so I had all I needed to make a start. The mock up had been moved about, cut into and adjusted a fair bit which meant that I could make a good start quickly, by replicating the dimensions in 60thou styrene, and then overlaying this with the Evergreen sheet. Scenic modelling is a bit of an artform again, and in my opinion you need to include enough detail and texture to structures that are behind the trains, but not too much that the detail takes the eyes away from the focal point - the track and trains... to that end I added a basic guttering and down pipe, and some off the  brickwork along the base - but not door handles, wiring, conduit, vents or anything else... 

In position it looked the part, and I mulled over something Chris suggested a week or so ago, whereby the closest corner was the real colour, and then across the front (right to left) and on the side front to back the colour was faded slightly, to give a subtle effect of it blending into the background. I tried this, and probably could have gone further, but it is a pleasing effect never the less, and one to play with in future. Perhaps on the Claremont and Concord project... my mind then turned to how the scene could be completed, as the structure on it's own wasn't quite working for me. My mind drifted and I glanced at Pont-y-dulais, to where I've used photographs cut down on the left hand side to suggest distant hills... I wondered if I could use 2D photos on the back-scene to suggest the elements of Visser not modelled. If you look at that Steve Hunter photo you'll notice a seed elevator, along with some other industrial looking agricultural equipment above the roof line. I've looked about on Google Earth and there are a few other structures on the site too, so I trawled Google images and Prince Edward Island seed elevators found a few suitable photos I could tweak...

As well as the elevators, I added a small building with a pair of vertical silos in front, trying this behind the tree... this showed promise but I thought it was a bit small - my thought was if the shadow of the tree appeared to cast itself on this building, then the fact there was a shadow on the back scene wouldn't be so jarring. The small print was moved to the left hand side (from the front) and a larger picture put in behind the tree and these were glued in place with Prit-stik...

Now, the scene begins to show real promise, so I added some styrene to stand the building up a touch from the surrounding scenery and then blended this in with filler, before painting to match the other ground cover ahead of scenic treatment next time... 

 

But something jarred... 

 

Yes, the sky between the diagonals on the elevator was too light, and no matter how long I looked at it, things weren't improving. I pondered if this could be blended with some airbrushed emulsion, or perhaps over-laid with another image... then I realised, as I'd used Prit-stik it would be wet enough still to tear off without causing excessive damage. I printed out a few more options with adjusted tones for the elevator to better match, and then carefully replaced this...

 

Perfect, the scene feels complete...

 

just enough detail and just enough balance - and ready for some grass and undergrowth to blend into the rest of the scene next time, after that just the road and 'Level Crossing' signage to add, as well as build staging extensions and a lighting lid of it's own once lock down ends here in the UK. However, as I look at the scene above, I'm transported to a more peaceful headspace, and I can feel the warmth on my face and imagine standing by the pick up, watching the casual switching un fold in front of me, before heading onwards for a cold Coke down at Murray Harbour. In the meantime, more soon...

[Allegheny1600]

Hi James,

That’s a lovely bit of modelling there, I like it a lot.

Well done!

John

[Dava]

Really enjoyed this topic, I have a Bachmann 0Scale 70 tonner arriving soon which being 3 rail (!) will require conversion. They were widely used on US shortlines. PEI is a lovely prototype for James’ cameo as it was a complete island railway system.

 

Dava